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Zepol's Data Shows Severe Impact on U.S. Trade From West Coast Port Issues

Import Volume on the West Coast Plummets in 2015, but East Coast Fares Well

MINNEAPOLIS, MN--(Marketwired - Mar 11, 2015) - Zepol (www.zepol.com) reports that total U.S. container imports are down over 5 percent this year, compared to January and February of 2014. Nearly the entire decline in imports was attributed to West Coast ports. The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, which make up a combined 40 percent of U.S. container imports, declined by 19 and 20 percent so far in 2015. East Coast ports have reaped the benefit, especially the port of New York/Newark, which increased container imports by 8 percent this year.

"The decline along the West Coast has lead to diverted shipments and a surplus in volume across the Atlantic and Gulf Coast," confirms Zepol's CEO and trade data expert Paul Rasmussen. "Due to these events, it's the first time in over 11 years the port of New York/Newark has passed Long Beach as the second-largest port in the United States."

Total U.S. imports by TEUs (twenty-foot containers) dropped from 2.93 million in January through February of 2014 to 2.78 million in 2015. Combined, the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach have declined by over 230,000 TEUs compared to the first two months of 2014.

Most East Coast and Gulf Coast ports haven't seen decay, but growth in containers. The port of New York/Newark grew by over 34,000 TEUs. The port of Savannah increased 20 percent with an increase of over 40,000 TEUs and Houston rose 29 percent, by nearly 31,000 TEUs.

Data Note: The data in this report does not include empty containers, or shipments labeled as 'freight remaining on board,' and may contain other data anomalies.

About Zepol Corporation:

Zepol is a Minnesota-based company that provides U.S. import and export data. Zepol's data provides competitive intelligence, market research, lead generation, sourcing, and trade compliance to positively impact organizations' profitability. Zepol does all this with its four unique online subscription tools: TradeIQ Import and TradeIQ Export, TradeView, and ComplianceIQ.